New Delhi: Opposition members, including the Congress and Trinamool Congress (TMC), staged a walkout from the Upper House of Parliament after Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu refused to revoke the suspension of 12 MPs. The Opposition MPs also held a demonstration outside Mahatma Gandhi's statue inside Parliament complex, raising slogans against the government.
In the Lok Sabha too, Congress, DMK, and National Conference members staged a walkout. However, Trinamool Congress members neither joined the protests nor walked out in the Lok Sabha.
The ruckus in the Rajya Sabha continued on Tuesday as Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge called the suspension of MPs "gross violation of rules of procedure". Mallikarjun Kharge said that a motion to suspend an MP could only be taken on the day of misconduct.
"The incident happened in the last monsoon session. So how can you take this decision now," Kharge asked. "The moving of the motion, and its adoption is a gross violation of procedure regarding suspension of members, provided under rule 256," said Kharge.
"As per the convention, if any member wants to raise a point of order, then he has to be permitted by the chair to raise the point of order. Furthermore, when LoP is asking to raise, he should be allowed, but I was not allowed," he said.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, said the government's assurance of cooperation in the smooth running of the House "is a sham". "We have decided to oppose the way democracy has been tattered in Rajya Sabha by suspending 12 MPs. We have decided to oppose such dictatorial attitude of the government," PTI quoted Chowdhury as saying.
Venkaiah Naidu's response
"The Chairman of the Rajya Sabha is empowered to take action and also the House can take action," said Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu. "The bitter experience of the last Monsoon Session still continues to haunt most of us. I was expecting & waiting for the leading lights of the House to take lead in expressing outrage over what happened in the last Session," he said. "I do not feel happy by taking such action against the MPs,"Naidu added.
The opposition members protested at the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament
The 12 opposition MPs were suspended for their 'unruly behaviour' during the passage of the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill, 2021 in August 2021. Of the 12, six are from the Congress, two each from the TMC and Shiv Sena and one each from the CPM and the CPI.